Improvement in low-water indicators



Y To all whom it may concern moet sans para oma.

JAMES BRAHN, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR' TO HIM- SELF AND'G.E. CUTTER.

Leners Paten: No. 91,599, dared 'June 22, 1869.

Be it known that I, JAMES BRAHN, of Jersey City, Hudson county, NewJersey, have invented a new and improved Water-Indicator andSafety-Valve Attachf ment to SteamEngiues and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, whichwill enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part'of thisspecification, in which- Figure l represents a vertical longitudinalsection of my invention, wheny applied as a water-indicator, the planeof section 'being indicated by the line z x, lig. 3.

Figure 2 is a similar view of the same, showing it,

arranged as asafety-valve.

Figure 3 is a horizontal section of the same, the plane of section beingindicated by the line 'y y, g. 1.

Figure 4 is a side view of the same. Similar letters of' referenceindicate corresponding parts.

This inventionjrelates to a new device for regulating the height of'water in steam-generatars.

The invention consists, chiefly, in the arrangement on a chest, in whichthere is a pivoted lever, of two valves of dierent size, the smaller oneacting on top, and the larger on the underside of the lever.

Fora water-indicator, steam is constantly kept on the small valve, tokeep both closed. Y

The large valve is connected, by a pipe, with the lower part of theboiler, and only receives steam when Y the water falls below thewater-line. The large valve will then be opened, and an alarm be given.

AThe invention consists, also, in providing for an adjustment of thelever-pivot, so that it can be adapted to greater or lesssteam-pressure, as may be desired.

A, in the drawing, represents a chest or box, made of cast-iron or othersuitable material, of suitable size and form.

One of its sides, B, is removable, and can be fastened by means of boltsor nuts a a, as indicated in iis. 4.

lG is a plate, placed on the'outside of' the plate B, so that it [itswell between the heads ofthe bolts or nuts, to prevent them from beingturned.

The plate C has a slo't in its middle, which lits over a staple, b, thatprojects from B, as shown.

The bail of a padlock, or any other equivalentdef vice, may be fittedthrough the staple after the plate C is put on, to lock the saine. Y

A lock-np safety-valve or chest is thus produced by very simple means,as the bolts or nuts cannot be turned as `long as the plate C is held inplace.

The box A has au opening, c, in its upper, and a larger opening, d, inits lower side. These openings form valve-seats on their upper sides, asshown, the

small valve, D', resting on the seat c, and the large valve, E, on theseat d,` as shown.

F is a lever or bar, arranged within the box A. It

.is poised upon lthe stem e of the large valve E, and

has a projecting pin, f, resting against the top plate of the box A,said pin forming the pivot of the lever, as in g. l. V 1

Pins g g project from the sides of the lever or box, to prevent lateralplay.

The stem h of the small valve D rests on the outer, i. e., non-pivotedend of the lever.

G is a pipe, extending from the box A to a whistle or otheralarm-instrument The upper valve-opening c is, by a pipe, H, connectedwith the top of a steamboilerg the-lower valveopening,-d, by a pipe, I,with the lower part of the same boiler, under the water-line.

When the water is on or above the water-line, steam will, in the pipe H,press upon the valve D, keeping it closed, and holding the lever F down,to also keep the valve E closed.

When, however the water should be below the kwater-line, steam willenter the pipe I, and will press against the under side of the largevalve E with such power as to overcome the resistance of the valvel andof the weight of the lever F, and will open the valves, allowing steamto enter the box A.

The steam will then pass in the pipe G to the whistle or other device,and blow an alarm. lhusalow-water detector is produced.

rIhe pivot f of the lever can be adjusted longitndi nally on a screworother bar, c', so that the purchase of the valve D on the lever can beregulated at will.

A steamfpressure indicator and safety-valve is produced by connectingthe openings c l by means of one single pipe, J, as in lig. 2, said pipeleading to the boiler, so that steam constantly acts on both valves.

As long as the pressure is low, the purchase andV weightof the lever Fwill give an advantage to the valve D, so that the same will hold'itselfand thevalve E closed. But as the pressure increases, the power of lthelower valve will increase more rapidly than that of the upper, as thelatter is smal1er,aud as the weight and purchase ot the lever do notincrease with the pressure of the steam.

If, for example, the area of the lower valve is twice that of the upper,and if, at a pressure of twenty pounds, the lower valve has the fulltwenty, and the upper, ten pounds of pressure, and if the weight of thelever F, together with the purchase of the same, amounts to twentypounds, the valveD will have thirty, audlil twenty pounds acting on thelever. But when the pressure increases to il'ty pounds, the'valve D willhave twenty-live, plus twenty pounds of the lever, against. fifty poundsof the valve E, and consequently the valve E will overcome theresistance of D.

'lhe device, therefore, vaets as a safety-valve, if a pipe, 7c, isprovided, to carry off the steam from the box A. i

rlhe pivot f may be suspended from a bar, j, which is secured in thebox, as in g. 2, and on which f can be adjusted. In this case, the lowerend of f will form the pivot, while in tig. 1 its upper end acts assuch.

L is a cam, for raising the lever F, to let off steam whenever desired.v

- The stem hy of the valve D rests on a step, l, which is, by means ofa. screw, m, up-and-down adjustable in the end of lthe lever F, as isclearly shown'in g. l.'-

It will be understood that by moving the pivot fon the bar 'i or j, thepurchase of the leverean be adjusted to cause the opening of the valve Eat a. greater or less degree of pressure.

A grate or plate, fn, may be arranged inoriat the end of the pipe k, toprevent.A meddling with the lever` F through said pipe.

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent- '1. The box A,when provided with the small valve on top, to counteract the 'pressureon the larger valve in the bottom, substantially as herein shown anddescribed.

2. The water-indicator, consisting of the box A, having the lever F andthe valves D E, which are kept closed, by pressure on D, as long as thewater is high in the boiler, while they will be opened when there is notenough water in the boiler, substantially as herein shown and described.v

3. The lever F, provided with an adjustable pivot, f, substantially asherein shown and described.

4. The lever F, when arranged in abox, A, between two valves of dierentsize, substantially as herein shown and described.

JAMES BRAHN.

Witnesses:

:FRANK BLooKLEY, ALEX. F. ROBERTS.

